


You're Gonna Walk Right Out That Door

by Rose_Verte



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M, a few other characters mentioned in the background, and that's hard to deal with, but they do love each other, established couples fight, relationships take work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:08:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27584539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rose_Verte/pseuds/Rose_Verte
Summary: No matter how he looked it, breaking up with Taako was a terrifying thought.
Relationships: Kravitz/Taako (The Adventure Zone)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 59





	You're Gonna Walk Right Out That Door

There were always a few things to take care of after a big bounty. Classifications, reports, debriefings. Sometimes it took hours. Days, even if there were enough loose ends you needed to tie up on the Material Plane. So, as much as you wanted to, you couldn’t always rift yourself home after a particularly hard fight. Even if you were tired and you had someone waiting for you. Even if it would only be for a minute. 

This was convenient, however, if you didn’t want to go home. 

It was less convenient when there was someone around to clock you on that. 

“So…” Kravitz nearly jumped when Lup appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, to drawl in his ear and wrap an arm around his shoulder, looming above where he sat at his construct desk, going over figures with a perfectionism that was definitely above and beyond his usual MO. (But he had to do something. He couldn’t just sit here...could he?)

“Looks like we’re about wrapped up here. Barry already hit the road.” 

Still a little disoriented, Kravitz rubbed his eyes before looking up at her. By the Queen, she did look startlingly like her brother sometimes. He coughed and looked away. 

“Yeah, that’s fine.” 

“I’m looking to do the same.” 

“Sounds good.” 

“Sooo...you’re not coming?” 

He coughed again. “Well, there’s still a lot of…” And then, in an absolutely rookie move, he chanced another look up at her and the words died on his lips as he looked into those eyes, accentuated by a cocked eyebrow and a knowing smirk. 

“No, I...Just. Staying on this side for a bit. Not a big deal. Just...you know.” 

She sat down across from him, conjuring two steaming cups of tea.

“Boy trouble, huh? Wanna talk about it?”

Despite everything, Kravitz couldn’t help but snort. 

“...thanks for the offer but...no. I somehow don’t think this is a conversation Taako would appreciate me having with you.” 

Lup clucked sympathetically and nodded before gulping down her tea, heedless of the temperature. He had to admit that this not was the reaction he expected. What didn’t she get the about the fact that he wanted to be alone? He was about to ask her more directly when she was planning on leaving when she popped in, casual as anything, with-

“So did you break up, or what?”

Even just hearing someone say it out loud made him feel like his heart had dropped down into his stomach. 

“No! It’s not. We’re just...we’re going through a rough patch I guess but. It’s fine. You don’t need to worry.” He tried to smile but wondered if she could hear the uncertainty in his voice. The way Taako had turned away when he left for the mission yesterday, the dismissive tone in his voice had felt...a lot more definitive than he would have liked. 

She made another sympathetic noise but didn’t comment right away. She seemed to actually be taking a moment to think about what to say next which was...unusually conscientious on her part. He wished she wouldn’t bother, though. There was no way he could imagine that Lup getting involved would make things better, no matter how well intentioned her actions were. 

Kravitz loved Lup. But she was one of a handful of people who had grown dear to him that were, no matter how he looked at it, Taako’s first and foremost. It felt ugly to think about what else and who else he would lose if he were to lose Taako. But the prospect of their relationship ending kept looming over him mentally even if no definitive action had been taken. A spectre haunting him, which was an image not without irony. Personification didn’t bring him much comfort in this case, however. 

No matter how he looked it, breaking up with Taako was a terrifying thought. Terrifying and sad and a number of other overwhelming emotions he tried to lock up when he was reaping but which came crashing down as soon as a job had ended. The fact that if Taako ended things it would mean he’d lose other people, well. That wasn’t the reason he was so broken up about it. He didn’t think so, anyway, though he liked to torture himself with the possibility of his own selfishness. It was more that sitting with Lup reminded him that Taako had wedged himself into the only crack of mortality he had left and tore him open so he felt and cared about so much more than he had in a very long time, at least consciously, and the idea of having to bury all that again to get by was...well. 

He realized that had been sitting in silence for a bit while he went in the usual mental circles only when she broke it again. 

“I’m trying to think of how to phrase this delicately. I’m not...I don’t want to pry into your business. I swear.” Her smile was softer now. “Did you...did _he_... _do_ something?”

“No, nothing like that.” Kravtiz’s assurances were much more confident on this point. 

She nodded. “I didn’t think so.” Another gulp of hot tea. “Look...I. Again. I appreciate that this may not be a question you want to answer with me but...do you...like, is this a fight or are you done? Cause like, you know. It’s been awhile since I broke up with someone but there is a point of no return with these things. I want to know what flavor of advice to dish out here.” 

He was starting to move from passively to actively annoyed. “None. None flavor advice is fine, Lup.” 

She grinned and her eyes let off just a hint of fiery glow. Not intimidating, really. Kravitz’s power set was designed specifically as a counter to her own. But still. 

“And what are you gonna do, Bone Boy? Are you going fight me just get to me to mind my own business? I don’t think that’s in your best interest, all things considered. And by the way, I think we both can agree I’ve been pretty cool about you dating my brother, thus far in our friendship so I think you can do me the decency of a chat over tea when you start fucking it up.” 

“I didn’t do ANYTHING. I just…” he put his head in his hands. It was all coming out now, wasn’t it? “I don’t know. I’m trying. But everything I do lately...I’ve just been getting on his nerves. And that’s...I mean, he gets on my nerves too. Which I thought was...normal? I don’t have much perspective, but.” 

Kravitz sighed. This wasn’t how it used to be between him and Taako. He’d thought with the way they’d started, with how much they’d known about each other so early on, they’d be able to avoid these kinds of problems. But living together...what had started as giddy smiles while they picked out furniture had devolved into snide comments and finally...silence. Maybe not complete silence but pretty close to it. And he was tired. He was tired of coming home to someone he loved and never being on the same wavelength as him. He was tired of having to pretend that everything was okay between them because he worked with his family. He was tired of not feeling...wanted or enough by the person he loved. Just...tired. 

“Maybe I’m just not what he wants. Maybe he’ll change his mind, I just…” He shook his head again. “He needs...we need space, I guess.” 

“Kravitz…” Lup looked less smugly sympathetic now. “Taako loves you. You know that, don’t you?” 

Kravitz made a non-commital noise, already annoyed again that he’d been bullied into this conversation. 

“He does.” She sounded pretty positive for someone who wasn’t in their relationship. “And you still love him, right?” 

He blinked. “Do I...still _love_ Taako?” He laughed wanely. He knew it was possible he could fall out of love with Taako someday, logically. That was why this hurt so much, he thought. Because loving Taako, being loved by Taako felt like such an integral part of his makeup already that the idea of losing it made him dizzy. Loving Taako was colored by so many other emotions he didn’t like as much now: shame, sadness, fear. But the love was still there, underneath. He knew that. 

“It’s not a question of that. It’s...you know. It’s the relationship. Whether we make each other happy.” 

“I get that.” She pursed her lips for a moment, thoughtful. “Look, I’m not objective here. I realize that. I definitely like, want you two to work out for my own benefit. But for perspective, I’ve been in a committed romantic relationship for almost seventy years (give or take a decade) and like...sorry to say but it just...be like that sometimes. I’m not...I’m not saying to stick things out if you’re like, done, but…” 

“I’m not done.” He heard himself croak out. 

“Glad to hear it.” she refilled her tea. 

“Taako has a tracker on me, did you know that?” 

He had to admit, he didn’t. But he was too surprised by the sudden change of subject articulate more than: “A...tracker?” 

She grinned. “It doesn’t give him a full location read out or anything. That would be a little much. Just shows what Plane I’m on. Does that surprise you?” 

“I mean...kind of.” Where was she going with this?

“Does it? Does it really? Knowing everything you know about Taako? Cause the Taako I know, (and granted the Taako I know is in a lot of ways different than the Taako you know) but the Taako _I_ know, would metaphorically nail everyone he cared about’s feet to the floor if it wouldn’t mean having to admit he didn’t want them to go anywhere.”

“Okay, sure, yeah.” He felt his heart sinking. Why was she bringing this up? Surely Lup was above bragging about their twin connection when he was feeling so low about his own relationship with Taako? He blinked, forcing himself to focus on the conversation rather than spiraling. “I guess... I’m not surprised that he’d come up with something like that, more that he’d follow through on it.”

“Me too.” There was something sad in her smile. “Our boy’s not always the best at expressing his needs, is he? Even with me. Especially with me. Look...I know you just want me to leave this alone and to just let you wallow or get space or whatever. Maybe I should. But...just. Babe. It’s fucking dreary in here. Like, you know, fun, weird, aesthetic place to work but. I know this used to be like, your only choice in chill out tent but...unless my brother like, full on, threw your shit out of the window...you don’t really think you’re like, doing him any favors by holing up alone in the dark, maybe chilling in full skelly mode once I’m gone so you can’t cry, do you? ” She smirked, eyes twinkling with barely restrained joy at having maybe gone too far. “Okay, okay. I’m going. I can take a hint...eventually.” She leaned over and, unexpectedly, planted a soft kiss on his forehead. “Just...think about it, ok? Cause it’s...you know, we have a lot of time but not...forever. And it’s...it’s not always easy to be, you know, to love someone. But sometimes it doesn’t have to be as hard as you think.” 

⁂

About fifteen minutes after Lup rifted herself home, Kravitz did too. If he was honest with himself, he had probably been waiting for a conversation like that. Well, not exactly like that. He was waiting for someone to tell him that Taako loved him, that Taako wanted him and all the discomfort between them lately was actually some kind of wacky misunderstanding and things were as rosy and euphoric as they had been when they’d first gotten together, actually, if he would just check his math again. No worries.

But he’d felt fragile and lonely and hearing that someone thought they loved each other enough to get through this. That was something. Even if a cynical part of himself couldn’t help reminding him that even Lup only saw their relationship from the outside. They seemed well suited when they went to group outings, sure. But she didn’t see the myriad little ways he failed Taako as a partner. Not big things but. Not nothings either. And she didn’t see the way Taako sometimes looked right through him when he was mad, like he was just...over it. She wondered if she would classify this as just normal couple stuff if she knew the whole of it. He hoped she would but...he wondered. 

He didn’t want to deal with this. He wanted anything else but to deal with this. But if the talk with Lup had solidified anything it was the idea that hiding from it felt bad also. He didn’t _want_ to spend another night on the Astral Plane. He wanted to be with Taako. A Taako who wanted him there. And if that was still a possibility...well. He had to try. 

⁂

Their house was quiet when he rifted in. 

Their house. 

Taako’s house. 

_Their house_

It was almost like any other night as he removed his shoes, carefully, in the still darkened hall. (Technically, Kravitz’s relationship to clothes was about as fluid as his relationship to a physical form in general... but he liked to keep his things nice and neat. It made him feel like a proper mortal for a minute to pretend his things could get scuffed and that if they did he wouldn’t just manifest another pair, closer to his ideal.) Almost, except for the feeling that hadn’t left his gut. 

“Krav?”

Taako’s voice stopped him in his tracks, literally, and for a moment he stood still in the dark, a shoe still held aloft in his hand. 

Well. Taako’s voice always stopped him in his tracks, but that was different. 

Or maybe it hadn’t been so much anymore. Or he hadn't been letting it like he should have been. 

No. He wasn’t going to get stuck in that worry loop again. He was going forward. 

“Yes, it’s me, love.” He replied, cringing a bit as the usual endearment slipped out without him meaning it to, but not correctting it. He was, after all, still his love. 

⁂

Here was how it had gone down. The first thing to know was that it hadn’t come out of nowhere. Taako had been snippy lately. The last few months or so, maybe. Nothing too bad at first. Little jokes about how Barry and Lup saw him more than he did. A longer than usual sigh when his dishwashing skills still proved to be inefficient and Taako had to take over. 

It came to a head over coffee. Kravitz had gotten home late that night. Late enough that light was peaking in through the windows. He decided that, instead of crawling into bed and sleeping away the hours they would finally have together, he would surprise Taako with some fresh coffee and try to just stick it out. 

The problem was, it turned out, he didn’t remember how to make coffee and ended up breaking their Fantasy French Press and waking Taako (who was a nervous sleeper already) just after dawn with his cursing. 

When they’d first started cohabitating, Taako had found his lack of experience in the kitchen (because it had been so long since he’d had a reason to manifest his mortal body frequently enough to eat) cute, or at the very least a convenient excuse for him to preen a little by taking care of things himself. 

That morning, despite Kravitz’s hurried apologies, he didn’t look like he thought anything of the sort and mumbled something the sounded like “I’d say it’s like you don’t fucking live here but that’s a little on the nose, eh?” before fixing the thing ( _easily_ ) by magic and shuffling back to bed. 

Kravitz had felt paralyzed in that moment. Embarrassed by his own incompetence but also hurt at Taako’s anger. He’d just gotten back. Reaping was _hard_ even if you’d been doing it for a few centuries. And instead of resting, he’d been trying to do something _nice_. He hadn’t expected to be snapped at that way and was working up some anger himself, actually. 

But maybe Taako was just tired. He was tired himself. So, not knowing what to do with himself and not feeling brave enough to venture into their bedroom, he ended up napping fitfully on the couch and waking up mid afternoon to a note about Taako having gone out (apparently having made plans with Magnus the day before not knowing when Kravitz would be back) slipped under a (magically) still warm cup of coffee. It was hard to tell if that touch was an apology or a further jab and since the Raven Queen ended up calling him back for service less than hour later, he didn't get the face time required to figure it out. 

Things got frostier from there. Making their schedules work had been a challenge from the start, but it had seemed to be one they were in together. Now it felt like they were off in every way. Even, and it was embarrassing to think about, _sexually_. Taako didn’t seem suddenly uninterested as a whole, thank the Queen. But he only seemed to want to broach the subject when Kravitz was, say, face planted onto a couch cushion as his newly manifested body realized it had been awake for thirty six hours (he’d taken to sleeping on the couch more and more these days) or about to rift back to the Astral Plane on sudden business and it sometimes felt less like genuine interest and more and more like another test he was being set up to fail. 

Probably not Taako’s intention, but Kravitz had begun fully doubt spiraling at this point and it was hard to keep his perspective. 

What he should have done was to talk about it, but Kravitz was discovering that his fearlessness in the face of cosmic horrors did not translate into an ability to broach difficult subjects with his partner. He was already running the numbers on Taako ending things and they were still, essentially, pretending nothing was wrong. 

That was until a day and half ago, when Kravitz had woken to what he assumed were expertly prepared eggs frying and wanted to cry at the normalcy of the moment and the sun coming in on his face and lighting up their cat, Paprika, like she’d cast fireball but instead of doing that, or maybe grabbing his boyfriend by the waist and kissing him everywhere or at least commenting on the heavenly smell, what came out of his mouth, innocent as anything was:

“Fuck, my neck hurts.” 

This was, evidently, not what Taako wanted to hear right then and to Kravitz, it almost felt like the light had been sucked out of the room as he turned on him, scowling. 

“No one asked you to sleep like that! No one asked you to fucking _sleep_ , dude! You can be anything, fucking anything! You can be a damn orb of light if you want and somehow, you decided manifest vertebrae and martyr yourself on our couch to prove to me how hard you have it.”

He was pretty sure his mouth literally dropped open, so shocked was he at being berated right then. 

“I...Taako, gods...can you just...give me fucking break for a minute?” 

“Fantasy Christ!” Taako glared at him with a look he had never seen, not even when they fought in Lucas’ lab. “A _break_?” He gestured around wildly, first at the pan he’d been tending and then the rest of their home, a sprawling kitchen leading into a cozy den where Paprika had taken his place on the couch. “Yeah, sorry life on the Material Plane is such a fucking trial, but you know. We do what we can.” 

Still blearly-eyed from sleep, he was trying to formulate a response to his words being turned on him in that way when the feathers in his breast pocket gave a tell tale vibration. And for a moment he actually considered ignoring them. 

Their eyes were locked for what felt like forever and then he, as he was always going to, as he with every part of his being _had_ to, with a snap, shed his tired body and was the Grim Reaper again. 

“I know, I know. It’s terrible timing but I have to-” 

Taako turned back to the eggs, his voice low. 

“Man, I don’t care _what_ you do.”

And so he went, slicing a rift between the planes with his scythe which felt like pretty apt imagery for how he felt inside. 

And now here they were. 

⁂

Taako had been crying. Kravitz could tell, not because there were any outward signs of that but because of the way his glamour wrapped a little tighter around his eyes than usual. 

His first impulse was to comfort him, but he held back. He knew that retreating hadn’t been the best way to play this but acting like everything was okay wasn’t great either. They needed to deal with this, whatever this actually was. He just wasn’t sure how to start. 

“You’re home.” Probably if he wouldn’t have been able to tell from the magic, Taako’s voice would have been a giveaway to the crying. 

“Is that...okay?” he asked, wishing he didn’t sound so unsure. 

“ARGH!” Taako’s buried his face in his hands for a moment before continuing. “YES, FUCKING…” His eyed widened and his lowered his tone considerably. “Yes. Of course that’s...this is your home, dude. I can’t believe you think-” 

He sighed, shaking his head and then held out his hand. “Can you...can we have this conversation like...elsewhere? Standing in the hallway with you right now is making me feel kinda...jumpy.” 

⁂

Taako led them into the den and sat them on the same couch that Kravitz had been getting all those uncomfortable sleeps on lately. There was so much he wanted to say to him right then, but he waited. Not out of cowardice this time, he thought. Just waiting on what Taako so clearly wanted to say first.

They sat for another moment. Tense, but not the same kind of tension as the past few weeks. It was...softer. 

Very suddenly, Taako’s head was in his lap and it was almost like it was any other evening, as Kravitz stroked his hair, still waiting for him to speak. Finally, it came out in a whisper. 

“You’re still warm.” 

He froze, fingers still tangled in gold. His heart hurt...it actually _hurt_. And not in the same self pitying way from earlier. 

“Did you think...Taako, darling, can you look at me?” 

It took a beat, but he turned over to do just that. 

“You thought I...reverted?” 

“I don’t know how your creepy love warmed skin works, man. How am I supposed to know?” He closed his eyes for a moment, nuzzling in closer as if to prove just how creepy he found his skin after all. 

Kravitz sighed and resumed running his fingers through his hair, his mind briefly lingering on Lup and her tracker and the surprised tone in Taako’s voice when he walked in the door. His heart hurt, if possible, even more.

“And you also thought I might just...not come back?”

He shrugged, but didn’t say anything this time. 

“Love, I…” He closed his eyes for a moment, willing himself to be brave for once. “No, I’m not going to lie. I thought about just...staying away for awhile. But I was...I was scared. I was always going to...I’m always going to come back to you. Sometimes I don’t think you realize how much you...my very...my form manifests a pulse now. My essence tends towards _life_ now, because of-that’s not the sort of thing that just happens.” 

“Yeah, explain bond enhanced transmutation to me more, Krav.” 

“Okay.” He allowed himself a brief smile before continuing. “In any case, I...I’m so sorry if I made you feel like...if there was anything in my manor that hinted at abandonment. That was not my intention.” 

“You don’t even want to sleep in the bed with me half the time.” He blurted out and then turned his head away again, as if embarrassed to have uttered such a petulant complaint. 

Kravitz bit his lip so as not to laugh at the absurdity. “Because I keep odd hours and I don’t want to disturb you. I don’t have ulterior motives, Taako. I love you. I want to be with you and I want to make you happy. That’s it. I wish you’d trust that.” 

“Right, okay.” Taako mimed turning a key in a lock on the side of his head. “There. All fixed.” 

“That’s fair.” He sighed. “I’m sorry, I…I try to think of you all the time. I never want to hurt you. But I know it wears on you when I have a lot of reaps-” 

“It’s fine.” 

“Well...it’s clearly not fine, actually. But I just...you know that if I could stop being the Grim Reaper entirely, if I could live a mortal, quiet life with only you...you know I’d do it. But I can’t. The Raven Queen’s grace keeps me here with you, her power keeps you and your family safe and her bond is so much a part of me now that I think I’d unravel without it.” 

“I _know_.” 

“But?” 

There was a long pause and then finally, Taako sat up, although he hadn’t totally broke contact. They were just sitting side to side now. His eyes eyes were on his hands again, though. 

“Barry and Lup don’t have to work nearly as much as you do.” 

“The nature of Barry and Lup’s pacts with the Queen are...different than mine.” 

“And you never tried to re-negotiate your contract?” 

He couldn’t help smiling again and pulled Taako closer, so he was practically on his lap. 

“Would you believe I’m not the best at initiating difficult conversations?” 

“Uhhh, yeahhhh. Just a bit.” 

He kissed him, lightly, on the top of his head and oh, did it feel like coming home. 

But they weren’t done yet. 

“About that…” He sighed. “You know you’re not the only person in this relationship with trauma, right? I love you and I want to fight for you, but I’m not...you have to go a little easier on me. I don’t mean...I’m not trying to say you can’t joke around with me. I love your sense of humor. But sometimes...when you look at me...when you _talk_ to me like my presence is tolerated at best… _most_ of me knows you don’t mean it but there’s a part of me that...really has trouble with that, so just. I swear I’m going to try, but I need you to try too, ok?” 

“Yeah.” Taako’s voice came out a little broken as he buried his face in Kravitz's chest for a moment, wiping a tear or or two on his shirt before continuing “That’s basically what Merle said.” 

“You talked to _Merle_?” Kravitz couldn’t help the tone of surprise. Merle was probably fifth or sixth down on the list of people he could imagine Taako confiding in, though he supposed that wasn’t really fair since he’d ended up stealing Taako’s number one confidante for himself on this one. 

“Merle’s the only person I know who’s been divorced.” He wiped his eyes again and looked up, quickly adding. “Which, seeking advice from Merle is usually trying to figure out how to not be like Merle, don’t worry.” 

Kravitz chuckled, though he had to admit he had felt a split second of concern. “I guess we’d have to get married to get divorced anyway.” 

Taako raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, we’re not having that conversation right after we have our first big fight, Bones. We’re not that trashy. _Anyway_. Merle thinks I’m like, pushing you away. Cause like...you know it’s not that I don’t want you to live your own life. I actually...I think it would be pretty cool for you if you could start spending more time doing your own thing. But I’m just like. I’m good on my own. I’ve had to be. I can start again wherever, whenever. But like I’m not doing that now? I have like, school. House. Cats. You. But you’re not here that much which, I _know_ why. But when I plan without you it feels like...it feels like I’m having to do the thing where I get ditched and I make lemonade out of those lemons and it doesn’t feel awesome to relive that. And then when you’re back suddenly and I didn’t plan for it...sometimes I almost feel like you’ve like...you’re interrupting the routine I’ve worked out without you which isn’t even something I originally wanted. So. I get annoyed I guess. At you. At me. And then, my man. Whatever impulse told you sleeping on the couch would be a good way to avoid bothering me. It IS NOT. I fucking hate waking up alone and finding you out there. I can’t think of anything I hate more than that.” 

Taako was quiet for a moment, possibly crying again, but Kravitz didn’t say anything. He just held him a little closer and stroked his hair and listened, even though it was hard to hear.

“So, um. Yeah. Merle said that he and uh, Hekuba. It was a lot of this kind of stuff. But he thinks they were sort of, being shitty to each other because neither of them really wanted to be married in the first place but that’s just what dwarves in that community do. They probably didn’t even want to be in a relationship, really. And that’s not... he thinks...I mean, I think, too...that I’m like this because I’m convinced you’re going to leave and when I’m an asshole I’m trying to sort of, get it over with so I can mourn losing you. Which I know, I swear I know that’s not an excuse. I just mean, I can work on it and be more mature and open and stuff because it’s for the right reason. We actually want this relationship to work. And like, not for nothing, but I’ve done harder things than like, be a better boyfriend to someone I’m in love with, you know?” 

Kravitz pulled Taako closer and kissed the top of his head again, this time harder. 

“I love you, too, Taako. So much. I’ll find a way to...I’ll talk to the Queen. There might be a way to...lessen my burden. And maybe...how would you feel about putting the kind of tracker you have on Lup on me? Just so you always know what Plane I’m on. Would that make you feel more secure?” 

Taako narrowed his eyes. “Lup told you about the tracker?”

Kravitz waved that away. “Let’s not worry right now about things that Lup may or may not have told me.” 

“Ominous.” 

He grinned before kissing his head a third time. “If we’re really making changes, I think a goal would be to talk about the things that bother us more. It shouldn’t come down to us having to mope separately before we can face each other. I mean, I don’t think it should. I have no idea. I’ve never been in a relationship this serious before. But I don’t think we should keep hurting each other like this just because we’re both so afraid of it ending. I mean...we’re in this together, right? So if...if we have problems, even if it’s with how one of us is acting, we have to work on those things together. Does that make sense?” 

“Perfect sense.” And Taako tilted his head up and kissed him gently on the lips, his cheeks still damp from tears. 

And if things were not all better then, they were definitely getting there.

**Author's Note:**

> I worried a bit about making Taako too mean here or making Kravitz too passive. My intent was to show them both being messy and not perfect with the understanding that they are learning and growing as partners. I'm not trying to say either of them are behaving in a healthy way or that I believe this is the extent of these boys relationship. They have a few hundred years (at LEAST) to get better at this and they WILL.


End file.
